MARLBOROUGH SAUVIGNON BLANC 2017

The focus with this wine is to provide a drink that has texture and depth, rather than focussing solely on primary fruit notes. We want a wine that satisfies across the palate, and employ a number of techniques to achieve this.

Our Sauvignon this year comes from seven different vineyards, all of them giving particular attributes to the final wine. The hand-picked fruit was whole-cluster pressed so that the time on skins was minimised. A portion of this juice, 7% this year, was barrel-fermented in older French oak to give greater weight, though ensuring that wood is not evident on the nose. The balance of the wine was fermented cool to retain the fruit characters from our vineyards. The native ferment portion, 22%, also adds levels of flavour and texture, giving a savoury note that balances some sweeter fruit.

The final blend was made solely from free-run juice, as we feel it gives a more elegant and subtle wine, a key for us.

With this seventeenth year of Mahi Sauvignon we have changed one thing in particular which is part of our constant endeavour to improve and refine the texture of our wines. Texture is everything for us and with the 2017 we have taken it another step further by leaving the wine sitting on ‘lees’; dead yeast cells, for a longer period, now up to 8 months. On our tastings here we feel that the longer time on lees adds another layer of complexity to the wine, giving greater depth of subtleties while still retaining balance.

Each year the fruit is slightly different and so the blending is constantly interesting and we will keep assessing the blends on an annual basis, aiming to make ‘real’ wines that express our vineyards and personalities.